Thaindian News

Karachi, Apr 4 (ANI): A distant grandson of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah has said that the Musharraf regime had wasted Rs 500 millions in beautifying the leaders mausoleum with imported marble.

He said that this money could have been used in setting up 100 hospitals or schools, which, according to him, would be of far more use to the people.

Liaquat Merchant, who is the grandson of Quaid-e-Azams sister Maryam Bai, also accused the Musharraf regime of not including any of Quaid-e-Azams heirs in the management of his mausoleum.

Recently the Pakistan Army spent a heavy amount of Rs 500 million for the beautification of the Mazaar-e-Quaid and its engineering division imported marble which personally I believe was a waste of the publics money. The mazaar doesnt need such beautification as it already has a lot of trees, the Daily Times quoted him as saying in an interview.

Merchant, whose father ran a business in Mumbai, was recently awarded the Sitara-e Imtiaz for his outstanding public services in education and health in Pakistan.

Merchant objected to the beautification plan but said that the army neglected his input. I wrote letters to the Pakistan Army that with such a beautification plan they are going to waste the publics money and in return the Pakistan Army replied that it was not the publics money it was investing [but money] from the armys account, he said, and added The army does not own any money but it is actually the publics money.

Merchant is an eminent lawyer in Karachi and his children have also taken up what could be called the family profession. As a young lawyer, Merchant first visited Karachi in 1964. Today he runs Liaquat Merchant Associates, one of the most respected law firms in the country, in addition to working as the administrator of Quaid-e-Azams estate established under the Aligarh Education Trust and tending to several other charities. (ANI)